1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to enclosures; more specifically to enclosures for protecting a digital audio disk during storage or transport.
2. Background of the Invention
Phonograph records have traditionally been kept in open ended cardboard sleeves. Often a protective paper sleeve has been inserted within the cardboard sleeve to increase protection. Due to the greater expense, longer life, and increased capacity of digital audio disks over conventional records, a more substantial enclosure is needed.
Video disks, provided with enclosures such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,084,691; 4,084,694; and 4,463,849, are known in the art. These enclosures typically employ removable sleeves to support the video disks as they are inserted or removed form their enclosure. In addition, various means are employed to releasably secure the sleeve within the enclosure.
Efforts to improve the protection of digital audio disks within an enclosure include a hinged spine that opens like a book, such as the enclosure marketed by MCA Records, Universal City, Calif.
A variation of this hinged enclosure, utilizes a second hinged portion in parallel alignment with the first hinged spine. The second hinged portion is selectively hinged to expose a portion of the digital audio disk for ease of handling. Such enclosures are expensive to manufacture, require elaborate tooling, and have openings that allow dust and other particles to enter the digital audio enclosure.
Therefore, what is needed is an attractive, inexpensive enclosure that is easy to manufacture, affords a protective storage environment secure from dust and related particles, and provides an easy means to insert and remove digital audio disks from the enclosure.
Enclosures having a biased closure are knowm, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,351,435; 3,851,734; 1,214,158; 519,578 and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 174,300. Such enclosures are not readily adaptable for storage of digital audio disks. They are relatively expensive to fabricate and do not lend themselves to visual identification of the contents of the enclosure. This is important where the user will have a quantity of such enclosures, and therefore needs a way to quickly identify the contents of each enclosure.
Further, the guide means used to slidably receive the biased closure provides an internal lip within the enclosure that would interfere with the easy removal of a digital audio disk from within such an enclosure.